I awoke in a strange, yet familiar place. An infinite expanse of blue, like a crisp summer sky, only broken by the white- yeah, you get the picture. I was in DYN2's place. 

It didn't take me long to figure out that I hadn't actually awoke yet. This was a dream. Only question, is this, like, a dream dream, or is DYN2 about to appear and talk to me about something, like they did a few nights ago?

"Goooooooood morning, sleepyhead!" DYN2 said, appearing in a puff of smoke in front of me. This time, they were dressed in Halloween costume esque wizard garb, what with the pointy hat and blue, starry robe. That's new. "Well, not really, since this is a dream. Though, it is arguably morning right now."

"Arguably?"

"Yeah, time passes weirdly in dreams, I wouldn't worry about it. Anyways, Iiiiii've got a message for you!" 

"Uh, before you go on, uhm... How do I know you're not a figment of my imagination?"

"Whadduya mean?"

"W-well, how do I know this is a dream you caused, and not just the product of my subconscious?"

DYN2 seemed genuinely puzzled by this predicament. "Y'know, that's a good question. I mean, you could just take my word for it, but, realistically, you wouldn't be able to take it at face value... Quick, try to do something impossible!"

"Uh, like what?"

"Anything! Create something, try to fly, go to school in only your underwear! Go, go, quickly! Faster!"

In a sort of panic, I raised both of my arms up and tried to fly like a cartoon character.

I ended up falling flat on my face. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt, though it was rather embarrassing.

DYN2 burst out laughing. "Of course this isn't a dream, silly!" He said. "Well, it is, but not that kind... Whatever. Point is, you look ridiculous. I can just put some crap in your hand when you wake up as proof." 

"... I see." I said, pushing myself up off the... Ground? I don't really know if this qualifies as 'ground.' We're kinda just floating, but also... Not. Weird. Anyways, DYN2 is a certified bastard. "What do you want, then?" 

"Straight to the point, eh? Well, no use beating around the bush, then." They said, beating around the bush, "Stick around town this morning. A friend has a message you'd do well to heed." They said, in a vaguely threatening tone, like usual.

Alright, hang out in town for a while, noted.

"Well, that'll be all for today. You better be prepared! You've got a busy day ahead of you, after all! Good l-" They said, beginning to slowly fade out of existence. 

"Wait, uh, can I ask you something?"

The fading paused, for a moment, and then they began to fade back into existence. "Alright, shoot." They said, a little puzzled. 

"W-well, it's about-" Wait a sec, isn't this weird? "Wait, why did you do this whole dream thing?" I asked.

"Huh? To tell you about today's events, duh."

"Well, you could've just done this in the river, right? You know I'd have looked there first thing. Heck, you could've just shown up in the wood grain again, right?"

"Oh, u-uh... No reason. Just felt like switching things up, y'know? Haha." 

Hmmm... Well, I guess that makes sense... They do strike me as the impulsive type.

"Will that be all?" They asked. "You really should get mov-"

"N-no, I have one more thing. Sorry, it's uh... Important." I said.

DYN2 sighed. "Alright, spit it out, then."

"W-well, Sis, er, your daughter... Is she doing alright?"

They looked puzzled. "Whadduya mean?"

"W-well, they keep saying they're fine, but they're acting kinda strange... I figured you might know." Actually, I'm surprised they haven't brought this up, themselves. I mean, they've at least been watching some of the time, right? Surely they'd have noticed. 

"Hm? Somethin' happen to 'em?"

"N-not that I'm aware of... I-I mean-"

DYN2 shrugged. "Eh, I dunno. It's probably nothin'. She is at that age after all."

"What age? She's 8 years old."

"Uh, y'know, somethin'. I wouldn't worry about it." 

Y'know... DYN2 annoys me a lot, but, for some reason... Those last couple things especially pissed me off. 

"Hey, shouldn't you-"

"That's plenty of questions, thank you very much. See you tomorrow." They raised their left hand, and snapped their fingers.

In an instant, my eyes shot open, and I was back in Basenholm. For whatever reason, I found my heart felt like it was beating rather quickly.

To my surprise, Sis was standing over me, looking down at me, seemingly terrified about something. 

"Bro! A-are you alright?" Sis said, rather alarmed.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah, I'm fine." I said, somehow not at all groggy from sleep. 

"Y-your hand, it's-"

I looked down at my right hand, which had somehow ended up outside the roll. Not particularly surprisingly, there was a sort of inky blackness seeping out of it, and, once again, it disappeared once I noticed it. It's a lot less creepy and concerning the umpteenth time around.

Before I could say anything, Sis's hand began to glow, and she shot her hand towards mine. 

"Ehteh-!" Was the sound that came out of my mouth. Her hand kinda stung. 

"S-sorry, are you-" Sis said, her hand retreating as the blackness receded. 

"Yeah, I'm good." I said, sitting upright. 

"Ah- W-What's that?" Sis said, still looking at my hand.

Hmm? 

To my surprise, the receding darkness revealed some sort of unfamiliar white thing in my hand.

It looked like the back side of a playing card of some kind. 

I flipped it over, and the other side showed a simple cartoon of something resembling DYN2 impaling a cat with a sword. Rather grotesque, isn't it? Oh, hey, it works upside down, too, that's kinda cute. Still real creepy, though.  

I guess this is the 'crap' they were talking about earlier.

Y'know, I'm really glad I didn't wake up with actual crap in my hand... 

"W-what is that?" Sis said, still visibly confused and shaken. Oh, right, I guess this would be kinda weird without the context.

"Oh, uh, it's from DYN2. Was just got done chatting with them."

"In your sleep?"

"Yeah, came to me in a dream."

"Oh..." Sis said. "... Didn't you just talk with him the other day?"

Huh? "Yeah, of course."

"Oh." She said. 

"Something wrong?"

"Uh... Nah. It's nothing. W-wait, w-what about that black stuff?" 

"Oh, that's, uh... I... Don't really know, actually. Just kinda happens, sometimes. Likes to grab onto things." I explained. "Kinda fickle, too. Disappears as soon as I notice it. Weird stuff." I shrugged.

"Oh, I see..." 

. . .

"S-so, you're good?" Sis asked. 

"Yeah, think so."

"I see." She said again, with a sigh.  

. . .

"So, uh... How was the fishing?" I asked.

"Huh? Wha? Oh, yeah, it was fine." Sis said, mostly returning to normal. "I wasn't out long." 

"That's surprising." Though, I guess it makes sense. She came back early last night, too. 

"Yeah..."

. . .

"A-anyways," I began. "DYN2, er, your dad said we should hang out in town for a while. Something's supposed to happen." 

Sis nodded. "Alright, can't argue with that. Let's get moving, then." 

"Yeah, seems wise."

I quickly got out of bed, and stretched my legs a bit before we started moving. As I got up, I realized that my neck was killing me. Guess I really oughta buy some regular pillows. Anyways, we quickly made our way outside, and began walking towards town. We probably could've just teleported, but it wasn't a super long walk, anyways. 

And, on our way there, I couldn't help but notice that Sis was walking oddly close behind me.